Papal resignation opens door to many contenders

ASSOCIATED PRESS

February 12, 2013 12:01 AM

ASSOCIATED PRESS

February 12, 2013 12:01 AM

FILE - In this Nov. 24, 2007 file photo, Argentine Cardinal Leonardo Sandri poses for a picture during a meeting with relatives and friends at the Vatican. After the resign of Pope Benedict XVI, announced on Monday, Feb. 11, 2013, Cardinal Sandri allegedly is among the contenders to be the pope's successor. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, file)AP

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI's resignation opens the door to an array of possible successors, from the conservative cardinal of Milan to a contender from Ghana and several Latin Americans. But don't count on a radical change of course for the Catholic Church: Benedict appointed the majority of cardinals who will choose his successor from within their own ranks.

There's no clear front-runner, though several leading candidates have been mentioned over the years as having the qualities of a pope.

So, will the papacy return to Italy, after three decades of a Polish and a German pope? Or does Latin America, which counts about 40 percent of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics, deserve one of their own at the church's helm?

Will a younger cardinal be considered, now that future popes can feel freer to resign? Or will it again go to an experienced cardinal for another "transitional" papacy?

Some said Benedict's resignation presents an opportunity to turn to Africa or Latin America, where Catholicism is more vibrant.

The 110-plus cardinals who are under age 80 and eligible to vote will weigh those questions and more when they sequester in the Sistine Chapel in March.